


Two Sparks of a Brother

by xCabooseRTRvB



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Arguments, Flashbacks, In-Team Fighting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spark Injury, Torture, Twin Bond Disconnection, Wounds, blood/energon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-10 18:10:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11132100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xCabooseRTRvB/pseuds/xCabooseRTRvB
Summary: Lately, the Decepticons have been targeting Sideswipe for a reason unknown to the Autobots and of course, the red mech continues to ignore the warning signs and gets caught anyway. What do the Decepticons know about Sideswipe?Spoilers up to Season 2





	1. Target: Sideswipe

**Author's Note:**

> So, I might continue this because I know where it'll go and all that, but if I have the motivation to is the bigger question. I'll probably finish it as long as I don't get too sidetracked. So, if I don't post for a month or some shit, then hound me about it. Sometimes I forget about stories I've written. Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> Also, might up the rating depending on how creative I get with 'Bots hurting other 'Bots.

“Y’know, we’re getting real tired of you causing trouble around Crown City, Steeljaw,” Sideswipe remarked casually and ducked quickly when the aforementioned Decepticon slashed at him with his claws. “The least you could do is give us a hard time.” Sideswipe gripped his Decepticon Hunter tighter and smirked as it became a sword, swinging at Steeljaw and landing a hit.

“Don't get cocky, Sideswipe.” Bumblebee informed seriously and struck at Steeljaw as the Lieutenant jumped back at the Decepticon’s swipe. “Something unexpected might happen.”

Sideswipe rolled his optics and jumped back, “Something unexpected always happens, Bee. We’ll be ready for it!”

Strongarm ran forward and slid under Bumblebee’s swing and Steeljaw as she fired a couple of shots into the Decepticon who reeled back and growled at them. Sideswipe ran forward and punched Steeljaw, narrowly missing one of the other’s claws. The red Autobot laughed as Strongarm scolded in irritation, “Focus, Sideswipe!”

“I am focusing!” The aforementioned Autobot replied with a wide smile as Steeljaw dodged another blast from Strongarm.

Growling angrily, Steeljaw readied his claws and pointed at Sideswipe, “I'm going to make you eat those words, Autobot!” Suddenly, Steeljaw cracked a smile, “Until next time.” With that, he transformed and sped off as the other Decepticons that the rest of the Autobots were fighting fled as well.

Putting the Decepticon Hunter away, Sideswipe placed his servos on his hips and laughed, “Right, yeah, good luck with that, ‘Con!”

“‘Swipe…” Bumblebee called as the Autobot sighed quietly and turned to the Lieutenant.

“C’mon Bee, we’ve been kicking the Decepticons’ afts since day one and lately, they've been doing unorganized attacks. We beat ‘em now, then they won't be very organized when they try to attack again. Let me have this fun, Bee!” Sideswipe reasoned as Strongarm sighed and shook her head.

“That's exactly what Bee’s worried about, Sideswipe.” Strongarm said, “They've been doing unorganized attacks with no clear goal. They're planning something and we don't know what.”

“That's right, we just need to find out what it is they're after. For now, everybot watch your backs and watch each other’s. This could get dangerous.” Bumblebee ordered as the other Autobots nodded in acknowledgment. “Let's head back to base.” They all transformed and left the area as Steeljaw smirked from behind the tree line and watched the Autobots drive away.

“This isn't over, Autobots…” Steeljaw raised his hand and opened his palm as a purple orb glowed in his palm and he laughed wickedly. “You _will_ fall at _my_ hands. Soon…”

“How's ya know this’ll even work?” Thunderhoof asked with a frown as Steeljaw slowly turned to face Thunderhoof.

“Would _you_ like to be rewired, Thunderhoof?!” Steeljaw retorted angrily and even jabbed his claw at the antlered Decepticon who took a couple of steps back in fear and shook his head desperately.

Fracture cleared his throat and offered calmly, “Maybe we should test it out. See if it actually works. It'll be worthwhile.”

“It only works on Autobots,” Underbite reminded them as Steeljaw smiled evilly and turned back to look at the receding cars in the distance.

“And I know the perfect test subject…” Steeljaw responded quietly. So quietly in fact that Fracture who was the closest one to Steeljaw could hear him and to say that Steeljaw’s voice sounded cold and deadly was an understatement.

It was downright terrifying.

|~•~|

_A week later…_

“I'm just saying, you guys need to lay off the high grade, you're overreacting,” Sideswipe suggested casually and walked--well, limped as energon leaked from a wound in his side and pressed his servo against it--over to the command center as Strongarm stomped over to him angrily and placed a servo on his shoulder, forcefully turning him around and wanting to punch Sideswipe so hard that he'd just stop moving and for the love of Primus, stop _talking_. But she didn't because no matter how much of an idiot he could be, right now he was injured and needed to be talked to not injured further.

“For Primus’s sake, Sideswipe, you're leaking energon! Stop fragging acting like everything is fine! They're targeting _you_ and--”

The red Autobot jabbed a digit at her chassis and frowned, “ _We_ don't know that. As a matter of fact, we still don't know what they're planning and whatever it is, it involves _all_ of us! Not. Just. Me. For crying out loud, we almost lost Jetstorm and Slipstream. I don't see you hounding them on nearly being offlined!”

“That's because they _saved_ your aft! If it wasn't for them, you'd be scrap!” Strongarm argued as Sideswipe scoffed and limped away toward the command center, sitting on a makeshift berth that Fixit had prepared for him. Fixit wheeled over and immediately hooked Sideswipe to a machine.

“We’ll get you patched up in no chime--mine--time!” Fixit corrected himself after striking his body to correct his faulty wiring momentarily. He silently started getting to work as Sideswipe looked up at Strongarm and glared at her.

He scowled, “Get off my case, I can take care of myself.” Shaking her helm in disappointment, Strongarm walked away to cool off because there was no way she could get through to Sideswipe if they constantly bickered about it.

Bumblebee walked over and shook his head, “You should still be careful, ‘Swipe.”

The aforementioned 'Bot grumbled, “Don't start with me, Bee.”

“She's right--”

“Just fragging stop, okay? I get it, I'll be careful. Now just stop.” Sideswipe said angrily and slouched forward, resting his arms on his knees.

A little taken aback, Bumblebee took a couple steps forward and spoke softly, “You seem… annoyed.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Sideswipe remarked and rolled his optics, venting softly and staring down at the ground.

Bumblebee shook his helm and took more steps toward the Autobot, “No, I mean…” Bumblebee vented heavily, “You're more annoyed than Strongarm is when you break the rules. What's up?” Sideswipe only shook his helm. “Don't want to talk about it?” Bumblebee asked as Sideswipe didn't respond. “Well, if you don't tell me, I can't help you.” The Lieutenant reminded the other.

Shaking his helm, Sideswipe opened his mouth to speak but didn't dare look up at his leader. “Is there a reason everyone still treats me like a kid? Like I need protecting when I don't?”

Frowning, Bumblebee crouched so he could see Sideswipe’s expression, but the ‘Bot looked away quickly. Venting, Bumblebee answered, “‘Swipe, you're the same age as me and no one treats you like a kid.”

“You're lying…”

“I'm not and you know it,” Bumblebee argued calmly and stood up, looking down at his fellow Autobot. “Look… maybe the fact that you're not really a fan of authority might have something to do with you butting heads with Strongarm.”

Sideswipe clenched his servos, “She's not the only one I'm talking about, Bee!” Pushing Fixit aside, Sideswipe stood up and started to walk away as the Minicon protested and ordered him to come back, but to no avail.

“You need to get patched up, Sideswipe!” Bumblebee called out to him, but it fell to deaf audio receptors.

“I'm going for a drive,” Sideswipe informed flatly and transformed, driving out of the scrapyard and far away from it.

“Sideswipe!” Bumblebee yelled and outstretched his servo, even though he couldn't reach him in time. “Scrap…” Then, his servo went to his audio receptor and pressed a button, contacting Windblade. “Hey Windblade, follow Sideswipe, he's not at full strength and if we're right about this, the Decepticons could take advantage of him out there.”

 _”Got it. I'll go after Slick and comm you when we're in trouble.”_ Windblade responded quickly and transformed, jetting after Sideswipe.

“ _If_ , Windblade, not when. The Decepticons aren't offlining any of us today.” Bumblebee promised and transformed. “I'll catch up with you.” Bumblebee revved his engines and was ready to leave, but stopped. “Fixit, take care of Slipstream and Jetstorm and anyone else who needs repairs. I'll contact you if they're needed elsewhere.” With that, he drove off and followed after Sideswipe’s occasional tire tracks from his unnecessary drifts on the road.

Minding his own business on the road, Sideswipe vented heavily when he heard the sound of a jet’s motor and adjusted his side view mirror to point it up as Windblade showed up in the mirror. “Eat my exhaust, Windblade!” Sideswipe shouted and sped up, turning unexpectedly into the woods and bumped into a tree, but quickly gained his balance. Though, he did start leaking energon again. “Scrap…” He cursed and weaved through trees to lose Windblade.

 _“Slick, I'm just trying to make sure you don't get hurt!”_ Windblade informed him angrily. She was frustrated, he could tell easily, but he couldn't help but be annoyed at not only her but at Bumblebee too.

“Well tell Boss ‘Bot to lay off me. I can take care of myself!” He commed her and suddenly transformed, hiding under a tree and looking up at the sky to see Windblade soaring past his position. After a couple of kliks and ensuring that she didn't come back, Sideswipe vented heavily and started walking in the opposite direction. “Agh!” Sideswipe groaned and fell to his knees, servos covering his wound that leaked a lot more energon than before. He vented slowly but shakily, “It's okay, Sideswipe, you'll recover. You just…” Sideswipe practically crawled to a tree and kept one servo on his wound, “…gotta… ah!” He winced and turned to lean against the tree, looking up at the sky though he wasn't sure if he wanted to see Windblade right above him. Luckily, or maybe, unfortunately, Windblade was nowhere in sight. Briefly, he shut off his optics and focused on his venting. After a while, the red Autobot switched on his optics and examined his wound, cautiously removing his servo from it and venting heavily when he noticed that he wouldn't be able to fix this himself. Maybe he needed help after all. Shaking his helm, Sideswipe frowned. No, he was tired of everyone thinking that he couldn't handle himself. He’ll show them. He just had to stop the leaking. But how? He didn't even have any tools!

“Well, well, well…” Sideswipe’s helm swiftly turned to the sound of the familiar cold voice and his optics widened at the sight of Steeljaw standing there. “What do we have here? A little, injured Autobot who's away from the safety of his friends and who looks utterly helpless?”

Attempting to stand, Sideswipe yelped in pain and fell back onto his rear, shutting his optics in pain and venting unevenly. Opening his optics, Sideswipe looked up at Steeljaw who held a smug expression and crossed his arms over his chassis. “What do you… ugh… want, Decepticon?” Sideswipe asked, pain evident in his voice.

Steeljaw’s smirk shifted into a wicked smile and slowly walked closer to Sideswipe who instinctively tried to move back, but remembered that he was leaning on a tree. “You… Autobot.”

Confusion showed itself onto Sideswipe’s face plate and he frowned. Maybe Bumblebee and Strongarm were right. Maybe the Decepticons _were_ after him. But why? “What could you… possibly want… with me?”

The Decepticon laughed and it made Sideswipe immediately fear for his life because he could offline Sideswipe here and now and no ‘Bot would come help him in time. Steeljaw opened his servo as his claws mocked Sideswipe, “I have something I've been meaning to test and it only works on Autobots, so of course, I _had_ to choose you.” He said it like it was obvious.

Activating his comm link to the rest of his team, Sideswipe replied, “Why me? You could've… gone for _any_ Autobot… Why me?”

Steeljaw’s optics narrowed, but his evil smirk was back which made Sideswipe incredibly uneasy. “It was easy.” He approached Sideswipe slowly and crouched down to his level, unnecessarily moving closer with that smirk of his. “If I take one of you down, then the rest will fall. Besides… the young ‘Bots always break so easily.” The Decepticon whispered slyly into Sideswipe’s audio receptors and chuckled, “Cry wolf all you want, Autobot. Bring them here and they'll meet the same fate as you. Autobots, if you come to save your friend, I'll make sure to tear him apart, limb from limb.”

“What exactly…” Sideswipe shifted, but Steeljaw put an excessive amount of pressure on his wound. “AH!”

The Decepticon tsked, “No speaking unless spoken to, Autobot, or else I'll do more than just experiment on you.” For emphasis, Steeljaw put, even more, pressure on Sideswipe who yelled in agony. “Hear that Autobots, that'll be your _first_ warning. I'm feeling considerate today.” Steeljaw laughed as Sideswipe groaned and could already feel consciousness escaping him. “You don't get to fall asleep!” The wolf ‘Con grabbed one of Sideswipe’s shoulder plate and lifted him up, drawing back his other claw and smiling as the Autobot could only vent heavily and look down at the other in pain. “Prepare yourself, Autobot, this'll hurt… a lot.”

_“AGH!”_

|~•~|

 _“Well tell Boss ‘Bot to lay off me. I can take care of myself!”_ Sideswipe commed her as Windblade saw him transform in the forest, but was too fast in jet mode to slow down enough to follow him.

Cursing under a vent, Windblade swung around and flew over the forest, attempting to find any spot of red through the foliage. After a couple of kliks, she couldn't find anything and shouted in frustration, “Slag!” Venting heavily, Windblade contacted Bumblebee, “Sorry Bee,” she apologized, “I lost him.”

 _”It's okay, Windblade, we’ll find him. Meet me back on the road.”_ Bumblebee replied.

“Copy that.” Windblade flew back to the road and followed it for a while before spotting Bumblebee parked on the side of it. Transforming, Windblade landed next to him as Bumblebee transformed and met her halfway. “Where could he have gone?” She asked him as Bumblebee frowned.

“He could be anywhere. We have to find him fast.” Bumblebee’s servo reached up to his audio receptors and pressed a button. “Fixit, could you scan the area for Sideswipe’s signal.”

After a while, the Minicon answered, _”Something in the forest is jamming the signal. Sorry, Lieutenant…”_

Bumblebee nodded in acknowledgment, “It's okay, Fixit. Tell the others to be ready, we might call--”

Metal clashing against metal alerted the Autobots to a presence that was near them, just behind the treeline and they couldn't see who it was. “Is it time to crush some Autobots?” A Cybertronian walked out of the forest and smirked at them. “Hello, Autobots.”

“Underbite?” Bumblebee frowned.

“Yous come at tuh wrong time, Autobots.” Thunderhoof walked out of the treeline next and smiled at them.

“They're not the only ones having some fun today.” Bumblebee and Windblade turned around in time to see Fracture transform and release his Minicons from him.

“I suggest you surrender now, Autobots,” Quillfire said and immediately got into a fighting stance.

“Scratch that, Fixit, tell them to come now!” Bumblebee ordered as Fracture laughed.

“You'll be too late to save your friend.” Fracture mocked as all the Decepticons started walking around them in a circle and the two Autobots could only wait and watch them surround them.

Static crackled through the comm link before a voice came through, _“You could've… gone for_ any _Autobot… Why me?”_ Bumblebee and Windblade turned to each other with wide optics. It was Sideswipe!

 _“It was easy.”_ Steeljaw’s faint voice crackled through and worry was etched onto the two Autobots’ faceplates. _“If I take one of you down, then the rest will fall. Besides… the young ‘Bots always break so easily.”_

Bumblebee growled and barked at the Decepticons, his servos clenched so tightly it made Windblade worry. “Steeljaw better not touch him! Sideswipe’s tougher than you think!”

Mildly surprised, the Decepticons looked at one another before Thunderhoof raised a servo to his audio receptor, “Hey Boss, the rest uh these Autobots listenin’ in tuh yous conversation.”

Steeljaw's voice was much quieter this time, _“Cry wolf all you want, Autobot. Bring them here and they'll meet the same fate as you. And Autobots, if you come to save your friend, I'll make sure to tear him apart, limb from limb.”_

“He's bluffing,” Bumblebee said surely. “They need him.”

Laughing erupted behind them as Fracture said, “No, we really don't.”

 _“What exactly…”_ Sideswipe seemed to trail off, but a sharp _”AH!”_ alerted the Autobots and put them on edge even more. Steeljaw was already hurting him and they couldn't do anything about it.

“What are you doing to him?!” Bumblebee demanded as the Decepticons laughed.

“Yous gonna find out,” Thunderhoof replied with a coarse laugh.

 _“No speaking unless spoken to, Autobot, or else I'll do more than just experiment on you.”_ Windblade could practically see Steeljaw sneering. Another agonizing yell filled their audio receptors as they winced. _“Hear that Autobots, that'll be your_ first _warning. I'm feeling considerate today.”_ Steeljaw said and laughed loudly as Bumblebee became increasingly angrier. _“You don't get to fall asleep!”_ Something clanged on the other side as the Autobots all waited in anticipation for something, anything. Nothing in them eased when Steeljaw spoke again, _“Prepare yourself, Autobot, this'll hurt… a lot.”_

_“AGH!”_

“Sideswipe!” Bumblebee shouted with wide optics as his expression immediately shifted to one of anger. “Surrender now, or I swear to Primus that I'll hunt every single one of you down until you're all scrap!”

The Decepticons laughed as Underbite spoke, “Two against four?”

“Actually that's five against four!” A blue and white police car sped down the road and drove into Quillfire who flew forward and skidded on the road a bit before stopping. The cargo Strongarm was lugging with her pulled off the tarp and jumped off the cart, charging for Underbite who was caught off guard and was tackled to the ground.

“And stay down!” Grimlock demanded angrily and stomped on Underbite who growled at him.

An orange car sped for Fracture and rammed into him as the Decepticon grunted and unsheathed his blades, swiftly moving his arm down to stab the Autobot, but Drift had pulled away quickly and transformed wielding his swords already.

Strongarm transformed and landed next to Bumblebee, “We’re here, Sir! What are your orders?”

“I'm going after Steeljaw,” was the only thing he said before breaking off into a sprint into the forest but was rammed into the ground by Thunderhoof. “Get off of me!”

“No can do, Autobot, Boss needs tuh take care uh ya friend and ya ain't interruptin’ him anytime soon,” Thunderhoof said as Bumblebee winced when another agonizing yell ripped through their comm link.

 _”Turn off your comm link, Autobot, and maybe I'll go easy on you.”_ A sharp, painful shout escaped Sideswipe’s lips, but the sound was abruptly cut off. A heavy burden rested against each of the Autobots as they fought in silence and attempted to keep their processors to the task at hand because if they didn't win quickly, Sideswipe wouldn't win.

|~•~|

“I switched it off…” Sideswipe said between heavy vents and slowly raised his helm to look at Steeljaw who smirked.

“Good,” Steeljaw replied simply and drew back his claw again to strike at the Autobot’s heavily damaged side that was leaking energon much faster than before. His claw struck at the red mech once again as Sideswipe yelled once more and energon started to leak out of his mouth as well, violently coughing out some of the fluid. Then, the claw suddenly pulled away and he was dropped to the ground as Sideswipe struggled to move. Slowly lifting his helm to look up at the Deception, Sideswipe coughed out more energon and watched Steeljaw move away and cross his arms over his chassis, turning around so that his back was facing the Autobot. “I have a question for you, Autobot: Have you ever been rewired?”

“Why aren't… you asking me… for information?”

“You are not the one in a position of asking questions around here!” Steeljaw snapped angrily. Venting heavily, Steeljaw continued calmer this time, “But to answer your question, I don't need information. Not now anyway. Now answer my question.”

“Agh… can't say… I have.”

Steeljaw smirked and turned around, “Well then, it's your lucky day, Autobot.” Opening his claw, a purple orb sparked in his servo and continued to grow until it filled his entire palm. “You recall Grimlock, yes? How he so easily switched to your side because you merely convinced him to by talking to him?” Sideswipe nodded because his strength was waning and if he even had the slightest chance to run, he'd need all the strength he could get. He was not being offlined today, he was going to get out of this alive. “We, Decepticons, can do the same thing to Autobots.”

Sideswipe couldn't help but remark, “Oh yeah? What do you tell them? You should join the Decepticons because we like ruining people’s lives?”

Steeljaw didn't even look mad which made Sideswipe feel like he struck a cord with the Decepticon. Steeljaw tsked and shook his helm, “No.” The Decepticon walked over and grabbed Sideswipe’s shoulder plate with his left claw, shoving him against the tree which made the red mech groan. “Open your spark chamber or I'll force it open.”

“Why…?” Sideswipe asked weakly.

“Do it!”

“No,” He answered as Steeljaw dropped the Autobot who groaned and slumped forward.

“Fine, we’ll do it the hard way.” Steeljaw used the claw that was holding Sideswipe up and scratched at the red mech’s chassis as the Autobot screamed and little beads of energon rolled down his chassis. Steeljaw struck at it several more times before Sideswipe’s chassis popped open along with his spark chamber as his spark glowed weakly. “We have a much easier way to converting people to our side.” Steeljaw sneered and raised Sideswipe yet again. The Decepticon raised his still purple glowing claw so that Sideswipe could see it and he smiled wickedly, “We convince them…” Steeljaw drew back his purple claw, “By force!” His claw rushed forward and embedded itself into Sideswipe’s spark as the Autobot screeched in agony and his body kept sending him warnings. Trees rustled and moved at the sudden booming yell as birds flew out of the trees and animals looked in the direction of the yell, but soon ran away from the noise. It was so loud, both Steeljaw and Sideswipe were sure that the other Decepticons and Autobots could hear it. “Do you feel it? Do you feel the transformation?” Steeljaw asked with a smirk as Sideswipe continued to shriek in pain. “I can turn it up a notch!” Something in Sideswipe’s processor suddenly triggered a distant memory from his memory banks and he could remember it clear as day.

_”Just stay here and hide, okay? You're not getting into this kind of stuff and I'll make sure that you never have the chance to. Protect your brother, Sunstreaker.” The purple mech ordered professionally, but at the same time softly. The mech smiled down at the two mechs below him: one of them was severely injured and the other was tending to the other’s wound and shaking his helm desperately. “I'll be back.” He promised and stood, running off as the yellow mech quickly stood and shouted out the mech’s name over and over._

_“Sunny…” Sideswipe called quietly and slowly looked up at his twin brother as the yellow mech paused and looked down at him._

_“I'm sorry, I'll be back,” Sunstreaker promised and climbed over the trench, disappearing from view as Sideswipe wished and prayed to Primus that both of them would come back. However, his wish took a dark turn when he heard and felt an explosion rock the immediate area as Sunstreaker suddenly fell back into the trench and was knocked out cold._

_Groaning from pain, Sideswipe shifted and slowly crawled over to his twin, placing an energon covered servo over his brother’s chassis and removing his other servo from his deep wound to place it under Sunstreaker’s helm and pull his brother closer to him. “Help…” Sideswipe called brokenly to no one in particular, then repeated it louder and more desperate. “Please! Help! He's dying!” He shouted out and coughed out energon. He was injured and losing consciousness quickly, his strength was waning. “Help him… please…”_

_“Over here!” Somebot shouted as Sideswipe looked over and saw a mech running toward them and immediately crouch to start helping Sunstreaker._

_“Thank you…” Sideswipe vented out in relief._

_“Don't thank me yet,” the mech said, face plate contorting in focus and seriousness as Sideswipe suddenly pulled away and stood, painfully walking over to the wall of the trench that Sunstreaker had climbed just mere kliks ago. “Hey, where you going?!” The mech yelled as Sideswipe climbed over the wall and froze at the sight of fire and destruction. His home was destroyed and it looked like the Decepticons weren't done yet. “Slag!” He heard the mech say as Sideswipe ran around and desperately searched for the purple mech, shouting out his name over the sounds of lasers and metal clashing against metal._

_Then, he found him._

_“Oh, Primus…” Sideswipe vented out in relief and ran over to the purple mech who was pinned under some rocks. Hurriedly pulling off rocks, Sideswipe winced painfully and his servos moved to his wound. “Just gotta…” Shakily, Sideswipe continued to shove and throw rocks off of the purple mech, hoping to Primus that he'd be okay. When all of the rocks were gone, Sideswipe fell to his knees and swiftly searched the other for injuries._

_“‘Swipe…”_

_Sideswipe shook his helm, “Please don't speak. There's ‘Bots here that'll help you. Trust them please.”_

_“Take care of your brother… and don't join this fight… This isn't for either of you.”_

_“You're not dying…” Sideswipe choked out, “Please, for the love of Primus, don't die.”_

_The mech managed to crack a small smile, “Promise me… you'll protect your brother.”_

_“I promise,” the red mech answered immediately, but continued. “Just please don't die!”_

_“It's my time… to be… with the All Spark.”_

_“You can't just leave us!” Sideswipe shouted desperately._

_“I'll still be watching over you… both of you…” Then, the ‘Bot shakily raised his servo and curled it into a fist. “‘Til all... are one…”_

_Optics widening, Sideswipe shook his helm, “No… no no no no no! You can't--you can't just… please, don't do this to us!” However, the purple mech stayed silent as Sideswipe nearly started to cry and gasped when he saw the light in the purple mech’s optics starting to flicker out of existence. He could feel the tears already running down his faceplate and reluctantly curled his servo into a fist, bumping fists with the purple mech. “‘Til all are one…”_

Being ripped away from the memory, Sideswipe slowly gritted his denta to save his vocalizer from the strain he's been giving it, “Sorry, but… it won't work!” He let out another shout but quickly recovered, “I'm an Autobot… no matter how much pain… you inflict upon me… AH!”

“Oh trust me, Autobot, it'll work. You can't run from this, you will be a Decepticon.” Steeljaw promised.

“Ne…ver…” Sideswipe managed to say before the pain increased and he was forced to vocalize his pain once again.

“Soon, you will be…” Steeljaw said calmly with a small smile as another memory came to his processor.

_They were in a hallway, somewhere in the Autobot Elite Guard building and the yellow mech had finally been accepted into the Elite Guard. Watching his brother walk away from him, Sideswipe vented heavily before speaking up, ”Sunny…” The yellow mech stopped and slightly turned as Sideswipe continued, “Good luck out there, you'll do great.”_

_“You should be with me,” Sunstreaker said sadly as Sideswipe shook his helm._

_“I'm not interested in this stuff, you know that.”_

_Sunstreaker vented, “Are you sure you can handle yourself?”_

_“Are you sure you can?” Sideswipe shot right back._

_“Fair enough.” The brothers laughed for a moment, but it died down too quickly. An awkward silence fell between the two and neither one wanted to break it. After the War for Cybertron, the brothers grew distant and their interests were very different from one another which made it extremely difficult to enjoy each other’s company. Sunstreaker would be the voice of reason, but on the other hand, Sideswipe would do what he wanted to do. It wasn't easy, but it was small moments and conversations like this that reminded them that they were twins. Suddenly, Sunstreaker broke the silence, “Promise me you won't get in trouble out there.”_

_Sideswipe vented, “You know me, Sunny. Rules and I just don't mix.”_

_“At least, promise me you'll consider your options before you do something dangerous.”_

_“You know I can't promise that either.”_

_Sunstreaker vented in frustration and shut his optics for a second before opening them, “Then promise me you won't go down without a fight.”_

_“Sunny--”_

_“You won't give up, right? Right, ‘Swipe?”_

_“I promise…” Sideswipe said reluctantly as Sunstreaker smiled and walked closer to his brother, raising a servo and curling it into a fist. Staring at the servo for what felt like an eternity, Sideswipe was reminded of the War and clenched his denta, turning around and walking away._

Steeljaw’s voice broke him away from the memory, “I think you've endured enough pain.” He pulled his claw away and released Sideswipe as the red mech groaned and slid down the tree, slumping forward and shutting off his optics. “Plus, it sounds like we’re about to have company.”

“Steeljaw!” Bumblebee yelled angrily as Sideswipe vented heavily and unevenly for air, listening to the clash and clang of metal against metal.

“You're already too late, Autobot!” Steeljaw informed.

“What are you talking about? What did you do to him?”

“You'll see…”

“Steeljaw!” The sound of footsteps receding told Sideswipe that Steeljaw had fled. Footsteps coming closer to him, however, quickly alerted him that someone was either going to attack him or help him. Even though his entire body yelled at him to move, Sideswipe knew he didn't have the strength to. “Sideswipe…” Bumblebee’s soft voice called worriedly. “What did he…” he trailed off.

“Sorry ‘Bee…” He hated how rough and weak his voice sounded and how he stupidly got in this situation. “I should've… listened to you.”

“This isn't your fault,” Bumblebee assured.

“You warned me…” Sideswipe argued.

“We’re going to help you, ‘Swipe. Just recharge, for now, we’ll take care of you.”

“Th-thank you…”

“Don't thank me just yet,” Bumblebee said as Sideswipe felt his spark chamber and chassis carefully close and a few moments later, he was being picked up. “Just rest now.”

Without a word, Sideswipe felt his consciousness fading and welcomed it with open arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, thoughts?


	2. Rage Causes the Divide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybot has their own way of dealing with a traumatic experience, but sometimes it causes more problems within the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the series a little bit so that it'd fit in the timeline between season 2 and the Starscream six-part miniseries.

“Strongarm, ready the cart. Sideswipe’s going to need to be transported quickly to the scrapyard. Fixit, ready a medbay.” The next words out of Bumblebee’s mouth shocked everyone, “His spark is directly damaged and we need to work quickly.” Carefully hurrying to the other Autobots, Bumblebee swiftly placed the red mech down on the cart and transformed as the others transformed as well and they all sped off for the scrapyard.

“Is he…” Grimlock trailed off and looked down at the motionless ‘Bot, wincing when Bumblebee spoke sharply.

“He's alive.” He answered quickly. “Just recharging and stop caring about the speed limit!” Their leader shouted and revved his engine bursting forward as the others reluctantly sped up, but refused to go too fast in case they had to slow down suddenly.

Strongarm spoke up warily, “Sir, I think we should--”

“No one’s asking you, Strongarm, just fragging hurry up!” That silenced everyone and tension loomed over them uneasily as they drove the rest of the way back to the scrapyard. They entered the scrapyard and transformed as Bumblebee hurried over to Fixit who was nearly done with preparing their makeshift medbay. “Fixit, please tell me you can fix him,” Bumblebee said as Fixit dared a glance at Sideswipe and his optics widened. Sideswipe’s chassis barely had any hint of red on it and it was uneven and jagged probably scratched multiple times, even his Autobot insignia was scratched to the point where it was unrecognizable. His right shoulder plate was slightly crushed and claws had dug deep into it. His already damaged side was even more damaged than before and most of the energon that Sideswipe had lost had been leaking from there. How he's still in one piece surprised Fixit, but worried him immensely. He didn't want to find out what his spark was like.

Shaking his helm, Fixit nodded and stammered out quickly, “I-it shouldn't be too hard.” Fixit forced a reassuring smile, but he felt that even if he were to give Bumblebee a genuine smile, their leader still wouldn't believe him.

“Don't lie to me, Fixit.” Bumblebee said angrily and walked over to the cart that Strongarm had hauled, looking down at Sideswipe for a while and opened his mouth to say something, but shut it a second later. Carefully, he picked the recharging ‘Bot up and went to the medbay berth, slowly lowering the other onto it. Silently, Bumblebee turned on his pedes and walked away as his team watched him worriedly.

“I uh… would like for it to be quiet if you don't find--dime--mind!” Fixit said, smacking himself. Reluctantly, the Autobots left the command center and all they could do was hope for the better.

|~•~|

Slipstream dodged one of Jetstorm’s attacks and struck at the other as Jetstorm was knocked back and fell onto his aft. “I'm sorry, Jetstorm.” Slipstream said and ran over to the black Minicon to check if he was injured.

Jetstorm clutched his helm, “It's alright, Slipstream.” With the help of the red Minicon, Jetstorm stood and the two quickly stood at attention when Drift spoke up from his position against shelves of the scrapyard.

“Your performances are lacking today, pupils.” Drift pointed out with a frown as the Minicons avoided optic contact and kept quiet. Venting heavily, Drift said knowingly, “You're worried about Sideswipe.”

“We're sorry, Master.” The two said simultaneously.

“Will he be okay?” Jetstorm asked worriedly.

Slipstream quickly turned to Jetstorm with a look of horror, “Of course he’ll be okay!” He said it like it was obvious. “Fixit will save him!”

“But what if Fixit _can't_ save him?” Jetstorm asked with a frown. “What if we were too late? What if Fixit makes a mistake? What if he's irreparable? What if he's already offline? What if--”

“Jetstorm!” Drift yelled sternly as Jetstorm’s vocalizer faltered and shut his mouth. Drift stood and walked over to them, glaring down at them and opened his mouth to yell at them, but someone interrupted their conversation.

Grimlock walked over to them and crouched down to look down at the two Minicons, “He’ll be okay. We just need to wait and see, Fixit can do it. He's patched us up more times than I can count!” Grimlock reassured with a smile as the two exchanged unsure glances, but turned back to him and nodded with small smiles.

Grimlock stood up and Drift turned to him with a frown as the Minicons started training again, but this time with more focused and determined looks. “Do you honestly believe that? Surely, you have acquired some doubt.”

Shrugging, Grimlock continued to watch the Minicons kick and punch and strike and jab at each other then turned back to Drift. “Sideswipe believed in me when no one else would,” Grimlock said, referring to the time he was being controlled by Minitron. “I'm going to believe in him.” The green mech finalized as Drift expressed a questioning look.

“That story from your perspective was not very descriptive on how it occurred.” Drift informed, but vented and continued, “However, this situation is different. Sideswipe is not being controlled.”

“No, but I still owe him,” Grimlock said thoughtfully and gave a little smile before starting to walk away. “I'm gonna check on the others.” He disappeared around a shelf of Denny’s collection as Drift watched him leave and pondered what the Dinobot had even said. How would believing in Sideswipe keep him from offlining? The Dinobot was never smart, but surely he even knew that there's the possibility that Sideswipe wouldn't wake up. For Primus’ sake, his spark was damaged and he probably won't be the same ‘Bot when he wakes up! There's no logical possibility where Sideswipe will even be the same, so how come Grimlock is so keen on believing he’ll be okay?

“Master?”

The voice pulled him back to reality as Drift blinked and looked down at Slipstream and Jetstorm. “Uh, yes?”

The Minicons looked at each other before looking back up at Drift as Slipstream spoke up, “Do you believe in Sideswipe?”

It was a tough question, he realized quickly and it made him think. Was he so cynical that he believed Sideswipe would never make a full recovery? War was deadly, everyone knew that, so why was he--or _any_ of them--not focused on reality? ‘Bots die! And it's a horrible reality that they should've faced a long time ago, no matter how or when they entered this Autobot/Decepticon war. But… why wasn't _he_ believing in Fixit’s ability? Why wasn't he thinking about doing _anything_ in his power to keep Sideswipe from flatlining? Why was he just giving up on a fellow Autobot? Drift vented, he was giving up which was dishonorable and unforgivable. He had to help… somehow, even if the only thing he could do was reassure his students.

“I do,” Drift answered after a while as the Minicons exchanged looks then smiled. Drift was beginning to think that the two had a secret language that was only expressed in facial expressions. “We must be at our highest performances to be ready for any obstacle the Decepticons throw at us. Let us train some more.” The Minicons nodded and took fighting stances before engaging in battle.

After about several kliks of training, the sound of a yell echoed through the scrapyard which instantly grabbed the attention of everyone. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T HELP HIM?!”

|~•~|

After talking to Drift, Grimlock walked off to think for a bit. For some reason, he didn't believe his own words and couldn't help but think about the ‘what ifs’ and it hurt him knowing that he might've lied to Drift. Shaking his helm, Grimlock raised his helm at the sound of someone mumbling and spotted Strongarm reading something. With the renewal of Cybertron and--well--being a Decepticon for as long as he could remember, Grimlock never learned much on how to read. Sure, he knew words here and there, but it was a lot more complicated than he thought when he wanted to teach himself. That phase ended quickly for him, however, when there was an Autobot to punch or a city to flatten. That was the past now, though, no use in reminiscing.

Turning his attention back to Strongarm, Grimlock walked over and tapped her on the shoulder plate. “Uhm… Strongarm?”

A little startled, Strongarm swiftly placed a servo over her spark like it was in pain and turned to Grimlock with wide optics. “Grimlock! You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Grimlock said quietly as Strongarm frowned and her features softened immediately.

She placed a servo on his shoulder plate, “Hey, you okay?”

Grimlock’s gaze turned downcast and vented heavily, “Yeah, but he’ll be fine.” Grimlock looked up to look at her in the optics. “Are _you_ okay?”

Strongarm looked a little taken aback by the question, but quickly recovered and nodded confidently. “Just like you said, Grim, he’ll be fine. He’ll be okay and it'll all go back to normal.”

“What were you doing just now?” Grimlock asked curiously and took a glance at the screen behind her as she looked back at it before turning back to him.

“I was just rereading the Elite Guard manual just in case I've forgotten anything. Speaking of which, I was going to go ask the Lieutenant if I could go on patrol.” Strongarm answered with a smile and turned off the screen.

Worried, Grimlock frowned, “Are you sure you want to go out there?”

“What do you mean?” Strongarm asked, but her expression quickly turned sour. “You think I can't handle myself?” Strongarm scoffed and started stomping away angrily, not even giving Grimlock the chance to respond and grumbling.

“No, I--” Grimlock started and vented, catching up to her to reason with her. “I didn't mean that!”

“Doesn't matter what you meant, Grim, you were thinking it,” Strongarm argued as she continued to walk.

“I wasn't, really!”

“Just leave me alone, Grim. I'm going to find the Lieutenant.” Strongarm said, leaving a confused and saddened Grimlock behind.

“I didn't… really…” Grimlock nearly whispered and vented, walking away. He just wanted to make sure that everyone he cared about was safe and if Sideswipe was injured so bad that he has to fall into recharge to save his energy, then he's not going to let anyone else he cares about to be trapped by the Decepticons. Grimlock narrowed his optics and clenched his denta, curling his servos into fists as his optic ridges furrowed in anger and his body tensed.

Steeljaw’s going to pay for what he's done.

Grimlock was shaken from his thoughts when a loud shout echoed, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T HELP HIM?!”

|~•~|

No matter how often she looked over at the orange Minicon tending to Sideswipe’s injuries, Windblade couldn't help but keep going back to check on Slick. It was her fault that he even got captured by the Decepticons. If she had kept a closer optic on him or tried to actually be stealthy about watching over him, maybe he'd still be online and cracking a joke instead of having the entire base worry about him. This had to be a cruel, sick joke by him, right? Any klik now, he’ll sit up with a wide smile and tell them how gullible they all were. Except that wouldn't happen, she knew that. She should've done something, been faster. _Anything!_ For Primus’ sake, she could've saved his aft if she had just been careful.

It was all her fault.

“I know you're worried about him, Windblade, but you're distracting me with your constant worrying,” Fixit commented half-heartedly as Windblade vented and walked over to Fixit, refusing to look at Sideswipe because _she's_ the reason he's in this state. It was her own fault.

“Sorry, Fixit.” She decided to keep her optics on the ground and frowned when the Minicon spoke up.

“Everyone has the same question, but my answer will always be the same. I don't know if he'll wake up, but I'll do my best to keep him online.” Fixit said and Windblade could practically see the smile on his face plate.

The sound of a dull engine rumbled toward them and came into view when it turned the corner of shelving as the truck was parked next to the trailer and Denny and Russell stepped out. Windblade’s optics widened at the sight of the two humans.

No, they weren't supposed to come back for another week.

They shouldn't see Sideswipe like this.

Denny started to unpack the truck as Russell looked around and spotted Windblade--maybe he spotted Fixit and Sideswipe too, she didn't know--smiling and running to her. Optics widening, Windblade hurriedly stood up and walked over to Russell to meet him more than halfway. “Windblade! We’re back now! I can't wait to tell you guys about the trip, especially when we went to the race track. Sideswipe would've loved to be there. Maybe even race in it!” Russell said excitedly as Windblade’s spark ached at the mention of Slick’s name. The smile on Russell’s face disappeared, though. No, please don't see him. Russell looked around, “Where is everyone?”

“They're around,” Windblade answered quickly and covered Russell’s direct view of Sideswipe and Fixit.

Russell looked up at her and smiled again. The smile seemed fake--forced even--to her, maybe it was because she felt like Russell already knew about Slick’s condition. No, of course, he doesn't! He just got back from their trip. How would he know? “Are they patrolling?”

“No,” Windblade answered. Maybe she should've lied.

Russell started walking away to search for the other ‘Bots, “Well, I'm going to go look for--” The gasp that came from Russell and the wide-eyed stare that he was doing told Windblade enough and she instinctively winced when she saw Russell start running behind her.

“Russell, wait--” Windblade tried to stop him, but he was already next to Fixit and bombarding the Minicon with questions that no one had the answers to. Sideswipe wouldn't have wanted anyone to see him like this, let alone Russell. The kid was still young.

She'd failed him again.

“He's okay, right?” Russell finally asked after his string of questions as Fixit promptly ignored him and continued to mend the ‘Bots wounds. “Fixit!”

“Kid…” Windblade attempted, but she was being ignored as well.

“Fixit, tell me!” The Minicon stopped working when Russell shook him.

“I'm working a very _delicate_ procedure, Russell Clay!” Fixit practically shouted. “Go away, before you hurt Sideswipe more! If you can't tell, I'm trying to save his _life_.”

Russell’s eyes widened at that and he took a couple of steps back in horror. His eyes shifted to look at Sideswipe but tore his eyes immediately from the ‘Bot. A human couldn't survive those types of injuries and the Autobots were different, they could survive that. Right? “Russell,” his dad’s voice said softly. “How ‘bout you leave Fixit to his work?” Russell didn't move from his shocked position. “Son?”

“Wh-who… who did this t-to… to him?” Russell managed to say and turned to look up at Windblade who averted her gaze and didn't answer. “Answer me!” Russell said firmly and ran over to her, looking up at her. “Who did it?!”

“Russell, it doesn't--” Windblade started.

“Matter?” Russell scoffed, “Why don't you pound the ‘Con who did it? You could easily take them down! Who did this?!” Russell asked forcefully as Denny put a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder, but Russell shoved his dad away.

“Russell!” His dad protested.

“Tell me!” Russell demanded.

Windblade shook her head, “Revenge won't do anything, Kid.”

“I don't care! Sideswipe’s hurt, why not hurt them back?”

“You don't understand.”

“Are you telling me you won't do anything?”

“Kid--”

“You're not even going to make them pay for this?”

“Kid stop.”

“Did you guys _let_ this happen?”

Windblade’s servos curled into fists, “You better stop now.”

“We're gone for nearly a month and Sideswipe’s dying!”

“He's not dying!” Windblade shouted back. Was she just assuring him, or was she mostly reassuring herself that Slick would live?

“It sure looks like it,” Russell replied.

Angered, Windblade transformed and burst out of there before she said something she'd regret. Before she was out of earshot she heard a distant echo, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T HELP HIM?!”

|~•~|

Bumblebee was searching. Honestly, he didn't really know what for, but he needed to. Maybe it was the blind rage talking or the fact that he could've done better to help him. Fought harder. Worked faster. Been smarter. He wasn't sure anymore. The only thing he _did_ know was that Sideswipe was dying and he had to do something to help him. Optimus Prime and Ratchet were currently circling Earth in search of abandoned energon mines so that they could store enough on the ship for them to use in case they needed an extra supply during the trip to Cybertron. Windblade decided to stay behind until Optimus and Ratchet came back and picked her up before their departure for Cybertron.

There would be no Decepticons attacking them, so most of the Decepticons were near Crown City. Probably a radius of about twenty to forty miles. They weren't able to capture all of the Decepticons on the Alchemor, but they got most of them. They wouldn't be at the Steel Mill again, nor the dam. If the Decepticons were working together again, then they were in big trouble, especially since they were able to almost offline Sideswipe.

Bumblebee smashed his servo down onto something probably really valuable to Denny, but he didn't care. He needed to find the Decepticons and make them pay for what they've done. No one was going to be offlined, especially Sideswipe. He'd made a promise to them and he intended to keep it. The yellow mech searched other possible areas that the Decepticons could be stationed at, but cursed in Cybertronian when he found nothing.

“Where could they be?” Bumblebee grumbled to no one in particular and frowned when he heard pede steps approaching him. Cautiously, Bumblebee placed his servo on his Decepticon Hunter in case he needed to draw it but released his fighting stance when he spotted Strongarm coming toward him. “What is it, Cadet?” He asked stiffly.

Strongarm placed a servo on her hip and frowned, “Permission to go on patrol.” It was more of a statement than a question.

Bumblebee’s optics widened and he turned to her immediately, “Patrol? After what happened to Sideswipe? Absolutely not!”

“Sir, I can take care of myself!” Strongarm argued.

“That's not the only thing I'm concerned about and you know it.” Bumblebee shot back harshly and went back to examining the map.

Strongarm scoffed, “Says the one who's trying to find out where they're hiding and putting an end to their operation.”

Bumblebee turned to her again with narrowed optics, “You are _not_ in a position to question me, Cadet. They damaged Sideswipe. His _spark_ is damaged!”

Strongarm crossed her arms over her chassis, “So you keep saying.”

“Are you accusing me of lying?” Bumblebee dared as Strongarm frowned.

“No,” Strongarm said firmly. “You keep saying that Sideswipe is hurt. Yes, we can all fragging see that. But the problem is that you're not doing anything about it.”

“I am,” Bumblebee said simply.

“You're plotting to _avenge_ him!” Strongarm shouted. “Emotions need to be kept in check, Lieutenant! If they're not, then it'll only hinder us more.”

“I am keeping my emotions in check.” Bumblebee concluded and closed the map, walking away as Strongarm followed him angrily.

“No, you're not. It's clouding your judgment, Sir!”

Bumblebee scoffed, “I'm doing what's best for the team! There's still five Decepticons we need to capture before Optimus can leave Earth to bring the Alchemor back to Cybertron! Steeljaw has something planned and if we don't stop him, it could mean the end.”

The blue femme narrowed her optics, “You're only making excuses for yourself so you could have reason to pummel the Decepticons into the ground.”

“Say what you want,” Bumblebee dismissed and walked over to Fixit as Strongarm followed him. He could hear Windblade arguing with Russell, but didn't care enough to pay attention to their conversation. Bumblebee found it strange how Fixit was up in the Command Center instead of working on Sideswipe who looked the exact same as when they first arrived after the incident. Did the Minicon do nothing? “Fixit, you've done nothing, have you?” Bumblebee asked, a hint of annoyance in his vocalizer.

Fixit glanced at Bumblebee and huffed, “There's nothing more I can do with such limited accessories--necessities--resources and not knowing of anything internally could really damage him. I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but that's all I can do. I can't help him.”

No… he can't offline. Bumblebee promised them and he had to keep it, but why did he feel helpless? Why did he feel like he had failed both of them? Why did he feel like he was useless? His spark shattered at the news, but it quickly patched into an empty spark as anger overflowed in him. Bumblebee clenched his servos and narrowed his eyes, his vocalizer preparing for the strain he was about to put on it.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T HELP HIM?!” He'd yelled so loudly, he was sure that the entire scrapyard could hear him. A couple of kliks later and heavy vents, Bumblebee spoke up as his vocalizer sputtered some static embedded into his harsh words. “You're not fragging giving up on him just because you don't know what the frag you're doing.” He heard the pede steps of the rest of his team coming, but he already knew that Windblade had bolted out of there before his outburst. “You are saving his aft, no matter what.”

Fixit seemed undeterred by his words. “I told you, I don't have the equipment. He could possibly need surgery and I am not medically skilled enough to handle such a task.”

“You're just going to give up?” Russell asked in disbelief.

“Unless you have a full body scanner to check for diseases or internal bleeding, the equipment to possibly perform surgery on him, and high-end medical experience, you're welcome to mend his wounds,” Fixit replied and tapped at the keyboard in front of him.

“What are you doing?” Denny asked, trying to defuse the situation and focus on something less sensitive.

Fixit vented and a screen popped up in front of them, though it was only producing static. “I've been trying to contact Cybertron to get that equipment and a doctor as well, but--”

“We have Ratchet!” Bumblebee reminded them.

“--all I've been getting is static. I'm hoping that they'll help.”

“Talk to Ratchet, he knows what to do since someone doesn't.” Bumblebee said.

Fixit simply blinked at the suggestion, “Lieutenant, I'm fully aware that Ratchet can help Sideswipe, which is why I was going to contact Optimus before you rudely intercepted--dissected--interrupted me.”

“I'll talk to Optimus.” Bumblebee offered. Fixit raised an optic ridge questioningly before connecting the signal with Optimus Prime.

_“Bumblebee,”_ Optimus greeted. _“Is there something wrong?”_

Bumblebee’s expression became serious, “Yes Optimus, we need Ratchet, right away. Sideswipe’s been attacked by the Decepticons and he's been seriously damaged.”

_“We’ll head back immediately. We’ll arrive in a couple of hours.”_ Optimus reported.

“Hurry Optimus,” Bumblebee nearly pleaded and vented heavily. “Could you--could you see if you can patch us to Cybertron? We're unable to with our part of the Alchemor.”

_“Of course,”_ Optimus replied as a second screen popped up next to the live feed of Optimus Prime. _Cybertron, this is Optimus Prime contacting you from Planet Earth from the Decepticon Prison Ship, Alchemor, do you read me?”_

The second screen was filled with static for a while and after a couple of kliks, only a voice came through. _”Optimus Prime? Alright, what kind of Decepticon trick is this?”_ That voice sounded… familiar.

The static was starting to shift. _”No trick, Cybertron. We have called because we need your help.”_ Optimus answered.

_”We? Who else is on this channel?”_ The unknown ‘Bot asked cautiously. _”And help for what?”_ Most of the static was gone, but the picture was still distorted and blurry. However, it was clearing up.

The yellow mech decided to speak up then, “One of our ‘Bots is severely injured and we need medical equipment to save him.” The picture was nearly clear.

_”What is your designati--Bumblebee?”_ The picture was finally complete and whole and Bumblebee’s optics widened at the mech who had answered their call for help. Bumblebee never thought he'd see him again after what he'd done to them. Sure, one of them forgave him instantly, but the other just hated his guts. Why did it have to be him? He couldn't help but avert his gaze from the second screen and quietly utter a name that belonged to the ‘Bot who was currently speaking to him and Optimus.

“Sunstreaker…”


	3. New and Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bumblebee knows the twins, but he never bothered to mention how and Sunstreaker is convinced Bumblebee has no remorse for his actions against him and Sideswipe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took a while! I had to write the next couple of chapters carefully to avoid any continuity errors and hope it runs smoother. Also, I had to do a lot of research on TFWiki and once again get used to writing Transformers. Anyway, next couple of chapters will have some old faces from TFP appearing!

The mech’s expression immediately shifted from shock to anger, _”Give me one reason why I shouldn't end this call, right now.”_

“Sunstreaker, we need medical equipment from Cybertron!” Bumblebee said quickly and the anger that was built up within him had somehow dissipated completely.

_“For all I know, you could be just trying to save your own aft instead of helping your own fragging team. Nothing’s changed Bumblebee.”_ He spat his name so venomously it made the Lieutenant wince at the pure rage in Sunstreaker’s voice. _“How do I know that this equipment will even be put to good use? How do I know that you won’t use it for yourself?”_

“Sunny--”

_“You are_ not _allowed to call me that!”_ Sunstreaker nearly shouted and glared at Bumblebee with this fiery fury in his optics that made Bumblebee look away. He couldn’t be reminded of his mistakes. He couldn’t be reminded of the look of pain and betrayal in both of their optics when he left them. He couldn’t look at Sunstreaker anymore. He knew he messed up. Sunstreaker scoffed after a couple of kliks, _”Of course you’re going to use it for yourself and I bet you want a doctor too. Slag off, Bumblebee, hope you offline and get sent to the Pit.”_ At this point, no one had the courage to intervene with their conversation, too shocked to even think about saying anything.

Before Sunstreaker could disconnect the communication link, Bumblebee spoke up quietly, “It’s Sideswipe.”

Caught off guard, Sunstreaker’s optics narrowed and seemed to study the Lieutenant for a bit before his optics widened in shock. _“What did you say?”_

“I’m sorry, but… it’s… it’s Sideswipe. He… he needs help.” Bumblebee admitted sadly and his shoulder plates slumped in guilt. “I’m so sorry… It's all my fault.”

Horror instantly overtook Sunstreaker’s features before anger once again came back. _”What did you do?”_ Bumblebee didn’t even bother to answer because he knew that whatever he said to him, Sunstreaker was going to yell at him anyway. _”What did you fragging do to him?!”_

_”For the love o’ Primus, whatcha yellin’ ‘bout?”_ Another voice asked on Sunstreaker’s end as the Elite Guard turned to look at who was speaking to him and covered the screen from the other’s view.

_”Nothing, I've just been reading the last report I've been given.”_ Sunstreaker lied. It seemed to roll off his glossa a lot easier than it should've.

_”Sunstreaker, we both know that ain't true. Y’haven't taken this job seriously for solar cycles.”_

_”Your point?”_ Sunstreaker asked flatly like this conversation was a waste of his time.

There was a long pause before the other ‘Bot spoke up again, _”Don't need t’act all defensive, I haven't told on ya.”_

_”Yet.”_ The yellow mech said with finality and scoffed, _”I'm not defensive, I just don't like ‘Bots who butt into things they shouldn't be butting into.”_

_”Hey, it ain't my fault I’m your superior. I’m supposed t’keep an eye on you.”_ The other ‘Bot said and vented.

Optimus took this opportunity to get both of their attentions, _”Jazz, this is Optimus Prime, do you read me?”_

Optics widening, Sunstreaker turned back to the screen and cursed in Cybertronian when Jazz walked over and looked at the two screens. _“Prime? In the land o’ the livin’? Didn't realize you were up an’ kickin’, Prime.”_

_”It's a Decepticon trick,”_ Sunstreaker said with a frown. Jazz typed on the keyboard in front of them as Sunstreaker protested, _”Hey, get your servos off of my stuff!”_

_”Decepticon trick, huh?”_ Jazz turned his helm to a different screen that they couldn't see and tapped on the keyboard several more times before looking at Sunstreaker with disappointment. _”You've been doin’ this for how long?”_ Sunstreaker looked away and refused to answer as Jazz frowned and vented heavily, turning back to address them. _”Whateva y’need, Prime, we’ll send it t’ya.”_

Bumblebee still decided to keep quiet, so Optimus spoke instead. _”Jazz, we need medical equipment and--”_

“Ratchet and I'll send you a list.” Fixit interrupted as everyone looked at him, but he continued to type on his console, acting like he didn't just disrespect a Prime by interrupting him. “If we could contact you personally--”

It was Jazz’s turn to interrupt. _”Actually, I'd rather have Sunny ‘ere relay the info t’me.”_ Jazz turned to look at Sunstreaker who crossed his arms over his chassis and grumbled an unenthusiastic ‘fine’. _”Whateva y’need, Prime, ya can count on me an’ Lil’ Ol’ Sunstreaker here.”_

_”It’s a trick,”_ Sunstreaker mumbled, _”The Decepticons are trying to ambush you when you arrive on Earth.”_

Jazz promptly ignored him, _”I’ll make sure it gets t’ya. Whatcha need it for anyway?”_

Sunstreaker scoffed and answered before any of the others could sugarcoat it for him. _”Oh? You didn’t hear? Bumblebee continues to leave ‘Bots to fend for themselves and nearly gets them killed! Namely my brother!”_ His vocalizer raised into a yell throughout the sentences as Jazz spun around to Sunstreaker and opened his mouth to say something, but Sunstreaker continued on. _“And you won’t fragging do scrap about it! Just like you did--”_ The connection was cut when Jazz had abruptly disconnected the communications link on their end.

Bumblebee could already feel the multiple pairs of optics on him staring at him like he had just grown two helms and their fields were beginning to make him feel claustrophobic. Their fields all expressed different emotions, some he couldn't read very easily, but others were filled with worry and curiosity. Though, none of them dared to say anything. Honestly, he was not expecting to see Sunstreaker so soon, especially since Sunstreaker was much higher ranked in the Elite Guard. When had he been demoted so much to the point that he was a simple secretary for Jazz? Maybe Sunstreaker just happened to be there, but why would he be reading reports for Jazz when they were meant only for Jazz's optics? Thankfully, a voice broke his train of thought.

_”Bumblebee,”_ Optimus said as Bumblebee blinked and reluctantly met Optimus’ optics. Why did the look of pity on Optimus’ faceplate make him feel so much more guilt? Why did it feel like he had let him down? All Bumblebee wanted to do was fade away until he disappeared, maybe he’d finally stop hurting the twins and their relationship wouldn’t be so strained. He shouldn’t have left them that day. _”Bumblebee,”_ Optimus said again but continued this time. _”An explanation would be preferable, but if you are not up for it, I understand.”_

“With all due respect, Optimus, I should’ve dealt with this issue millennia ago. It would only burden you if I were to explain the entire situation and we just don’t have the time for that. We’re in a crisis right now. Optimus, how soon can you get here?” Bumblebee asked firmly, proud with himself that his vocalizer didn’t stutter or shake. The little victories had to amount to something, right?

_”We’ll arrive in two hours,”_ Optimus answered.

“Can you get Ratchet?”

_”I’m here, kid. What d’ya need?”_

“Fixit will tell you the exact condition of Sideswipe’s injuries and you’re going to tell him what we need to help him. After that, Fixit’ll send that list to Jazz and they should arrive here in a… a couple of days.” Bumblebee’s vocalizer became quieter near the end and vented. “I don’t know if Sideswipe has that long, though.”

A gentle servo was placed on his shoulder plate causing him to look at who it belonged to. Strongarm smiled a small smile, “Knowing Sideswipe, he won’t give up that easily.” She said reassuringly as Bumblebee shrugged off her servo and walked away, leaving everyone else to watch him walk away solemnly before transforming and driving away. Strongarm was going to follow, but a servo grabbed her arm to stop her. “Drift?”

“Currently, we have two members in distress, both dealing with this incident differently. We must confront them when they are ready.” Drift informed calmly as Strongarm pulled her arm out of his grasp.

“Last time we waited, Sideswipe got hurt!” Before Drift could respond, Strongarm transformed and drove off to follow Bumblebee’s tire treads.

|~•~|

“--nothing and just left our afts!” Sunstreaker yelled loudly that Jazz was entirely sure that everybot on their floor could’ve heard him loud and clear.

“Are ya tryna alert the whole fraggin’ Elite Guard?” Jazz hissed as Sunstreaker huffed angrily and crossed his arms over his chassis stubbornly. “Y’better get your processor straight befo’ your journey t’Earth. I’m not havin’ ya dismantlin’ Bumblebee just 'cause ya hate the mech.”

“You don’t tell me what to do,” Sunstreaker pushed past him and started to walk out of the room.

Jazz stayed silent for a couple of nanokliks before venting heavily and turning around. “On the contrary ta popular belief, you’re part o’ Special Operations an’ I’m the head o’ Spec Ops. I get that ya hate ‘Bee, but tha’s not important right now. Your brother is dyin’ an’ we are the only ‘Bots who can get ‘im what he needs t’survive or else he’ll offline! Now fraggin’ listen t’me an’ get what the Doc wants when he sends us that list!”

There was an uneasy silence that fell between them and both of them wanted the other to break the silence. Jazz's field was nowhere near him despite Jazz being only a couple feet away from him. How Jazz even got that close to him without him noticing wasn't surprising considering he knew how quiet the other mech could get. It made him fee uneasy because he was sure that Jazz could read his field as clear as day. Sunstreaker hated Bumblebee, that much was a fact, but Jazz would never understand why. He was always Optimus’ right-hand ‘Bot during the war, even _before_ the war Optimus trusted Jazz with his life. Sunstreaker would never claim that he knew Jazz well, but he had a feeling that Jazz never knew what betrayal felt like. Or at least, betrayal from a very close friend. Sunstreaker would never forgive Bumblebee for what he’d done, no matter how sorry he appeared to be. He knew that Bumblebee never felt remorse for what he’d done. If he did, he would’ve come back.

But his brother was dying.

His twin.

His other half.

Why had he let him walk away too?

Sunstreaker’s tense shoulder plates dropped and clenched his servos into fists, twisting to fully look at Jazz who immediately saw the pain in the other’s optics and his expression softened. The yellow mech nodded, “Fine.”

“‘Kay,” Jazz replied softly and slowly outstretched a servo to the other mech, stopping and retracting it when Sunstreaker winced slightly. “Now I gotta run an’ meet up with Prowler real quick. Just wait ‘ere for Prime t’call back.” Sunstreaker just nodded as somebot knocked on the door. “Come in,” Jazz said and walked over to meet the ‘Bot behind the door as it slid open to reveal a ‘Bot from Prowl’s division. “Hey, Smokes wasn’t expectin’ ya t’day.” Even though he was curious to see who it was, Sunstreaker trudged back to his station and picked up the idle datapads that he hadn’t touched for solar cycles, finally reading the reports he was supposed to confirm and file and ignoring the conversation the other two were having.

“Boss said that it’d be better if it was today.” Smokescreen said and glanced at Sunstreaker who was engrossing himself in his work. Lowering his vocalizer, Smokescreen’s optics shot back to Jazz, “I trust you and Prowl and all, but are you sure you want me of all ‘Bots to do this? I barely know him.”

Venting, Jazz’s expression softened and nodded, “As much as I trust the mech t’hold his own, he hasn’t been thinkin’ straight for orbital cycles an’ I’m just tryin’ t’get ‘im back on track. He needs a friend right now an’ since I’ve been busy a lot lately, Ah was kinda hopin’ you’d help out.”

Smokescreen frowned, “I get that you’re worried, Jazz, but is this really the right thing to do? It’s like you’re giving me an assignment.”

“Trust me, I hate it too, but Sunny needs this more than he cares t’admit an’ you’ll have an actual assignment by the end o’ the day.” Jazz replied, but he could already feel guilt eating away at him for entrusting Sunstreaker with a complete stranger. Well, Smokes was a complete stranger to Sunny. Jazz got to know Smokescreen when he came back to a renewed Cybertron and met Team Prime.

That piqued the blue mech’s interest, “Actual assignment?”

“Once Prowler an’ I figure out the details an’ I get more information, I’ll tell ya all ‘bout it.” Jazz quickly checked his chronometer and vented heavily. “Sorry Smokes gotta go. Prowler will never let me hear the end of it if I'm late for ‘nother meetin’. See ya!” Jazz waved a servo and ran out the door as Smokescreen watched him leave and vented, turning to Sunstreaker.

The stack of datapads that were once unread and forgotten had moved to the other side of the yellow mech’s desk and a significant amount of it was already filed. Smokescreen blinked in disbelief at the stacks and merely watched Sunstreaker file five more datapads before shaking his helm and cruising over to Sunstreaker. “So, uh, whatcha doin’?” Smokescreen asked cautiously and walked into Sunstreaker’s line of sight as Sunstreaker’s optics looked at the blue mech idly before darting his optics back to the datapad he was holding. He wasn't close enough to feel the yellow mech's field.

“Work,” Sunstreaker answered firmly.

This might be harder that he thought. Smokescreen saw Sunstreaker file another then picked up another, “Wow, you read fast.” Smokescreen said, honestly impressed. Sunstreaker didn't so much as acknowledge the compliment. “Anything interesting?”

“No,” Sunstreaker said promptly.

“What are they for?” Smokescreen asked curiously. He could tell that they were reports, but reports for what?

“Confidential,” The yellow mech answered, filing another.

“Right…” The blue mech looked around the room, trying to figure out what to say because this was getting awkward quickly and he was running out of things to say. “Is this all you do?”

“No,” Sunstreaker stated simply.

“What else do you do?”

Sunstreaker filed another datapad and vented heavily, turning to Smokescreen with a look of mild anger. “I'm sorry, but who are you?”

Taken aback by the sudden question, Smokescreen blinked his optics a couple of times and composed himself before answering, “I'm Smokescreen, second-in-command to Prowl. We've met at the meetings before, remember?”

“Met is a broad word,” Sunstreaker said, narrowing his optics.

“You're right,” Smokescreen replied and vented, “We've _seen_ each other at meetings and shook hands, but we've never spoken.”

“And you're here why?” Frowning, Sunstreaker started tapping on his keyboard and half-listening to what Smokescreen’s answer was.

Smokescreen shrugged, “Wouldn't it be better if, y’know, the second-in-commands of Spec Ops and--uh… um, whatever uh Prowl is in command of to--y’know--get to know each other. And what is Prowl in charge of? I mean, yeah, he's an enforcer, but he's also the second-in-command of the Autobot cause. I guess he'd be the head of the entirety of the enforcers. Though, he is mainly the military strategist for us. Don't know why. Megatron isn't playing Decepticon anymore and the Decepticons are in disarray. I mean the closest thing to chaos that they're creating is back on Earth with ‘Bee’s team and--”

Sunstreaker’s helm whipped around to stare at Smokescreen with wide optics. “You _know_ Bumblebee?” Then a burst of Sunstreaker's field alarmed him and it showed anger, but it dispersed as quickly as it came.

Smokescreen took an instinctive step back, “Uh yeah…” Sunstreaker seemed to stare at Smokescreen for hours which made the blue mech extremely uncomfortable under his gaze, but he refused to say anything afraid that he'll say something wrong and make the yellow mech run and close himself off more than he already has. Maybe mentioning Bumblebee wasn't such a good idea. “Well, it looks like you're busy, so I'm just gonna go…” Smokescreen said awkwardly and started shuffling out of the room.

Finally, Sunstreaker spoke, “I have a question for you if that's fine.” Smokescreen froze and turned around to see the yellow mech turned back to his desk to type something out.

“Uh… sure?” Smokescreen said, almost fearfully. He wasn't sure what he was scared of, all he could figure out was that Sunstreaker did _not_ like Bumblebee and he wasn't sure why.

“What do you know about Bumblebee?”

The blue mech blinked a couple times at the question and wondered if he had heard correctly. “Pardon me?”

“What do you know about Bumblebee?” Sunstreaker repeated slower with irritation embedded into his words.

“He's a nice guy. I mean, I didn't know him for too long, but he taught me a lot about Earth and it's inhabitants. Well, they all did actually. Anyway, ‘Bee’s a pretty good fighter and is very dedicated to the Autobot cause. I don't think anyone has the determination that Bumblebee has. He takes one for the team. Except, he's taken _more_ than one for--.” Smokescreen rambled on.

However, Sunstreaker interrupted him and continued to keep his optics on the monitor, “‘Smokescreen’… ‘Former bodyguard to Alpha Trion and is an Elite Guard member’.”

The blue mech blinked in surprise, “Uh… what?”

Sunstreaker continued, “‘Currently works as Prowl’s second-in-command and mostly observes on the sidelines’.”

Smokescreen attempted to look over the other's shoulder at what he was reading, but Sunstreaker covered his view and Smokescreen didn't dare walk any closer. “What're you reading now?” He couldn't help but let the fear slip through.

“‘Prior to being a part of the Elite Guard, Smokescreen used to be an entertainer at… Maccadam’s’? Didn't expect you to be that kind of ‘Bot.”

Optics widening comically, Smokescreen hurried over to check on what Sunstreaker was actually reading, but the yellow mech outstretched a servo to stop the other from coming closer. “Are you… reading my file?” There was no way Sunstreaker could just stumble upon information like that.

Sunstreaker continued to torture Smokescreen with his newfound information, “‘Wasn't really keen on the aspect of being an entertainer for the rest of his life. Though, Maccadam’s did pay well’. Ooh, what's this?” Smokescreen could practically hear the smile in the other’s vocalizer. “Is that you?”

Smokescreen reluctantly looked over, “AH! How did you find that?!”

“It's in your file,” Sunstreaker said flatly as if it was obvious.

“That is _not_ in my file!” Smokescreen argued.

“Oh, this suits you a lot better.”

Smokescreen dared another peek at the screen and his optics went impossibly wide, “What in the Pit? Stop that!”

“Actually, this one is my favorite. Saving that one.” Sunstreaker said and continued to scroll down the page.

“How'd you even--”

“You play piano?”

“Not well, but why are you--”

“Wow, you really go for it.”

“What are you--”

“Nah, that one's not as interesting.”

“What the frag?! That's--”

“What other surprises you got?”

“That's not--”

“You were a crowd favorite?”

“OKAY!” Smokescreen shouted and vented heavily as Sunstreaker paused in his findings and turned to look at Smokescreen with a raised optic ridge. “I get it. This is how we’re getting to know each other.” Smokescreen said quietly. No one could get information like that, especially since most of that wasn't on his file. He knew. He checked. Multiple times. Sunstreaker must be an accomplished hacker. He was more so embarrassed than ashamed about being an entertainer at Maccadam’s, but he quit that job after about only a stellar cycle of working there. Then, he went to become an Elite Guard member. Not the best becoming-a-hero story, but he'd trained hard for it. Smokescreen vented and crossed his arms over his chassis, “I can see why you're the second-in-command of Spec Ops.”

Sunstreaker provided a smug smirk, “What can I say? I'm good at my job.” Though the smirk disappeared too quickly and a clenched servo shot up to his chassis, looking down at the ground. It was almost like the yellow mech didn't want to show any emotion in front of him. Why was he so stiff?

“So, what is it that you're looking for? Other than the blackmail material you now have at your disposal.”

The yellow mech turned back to the screen, “It says you were part of the team that Optimus Prime led on Earth all of those stellar cycles ago. You knew Bumblebee personally?”

“Personally? No, the war kinda messed with that. Downtime wasn't a thing back then, so we didn't talk much.”

There was a long moment of tense silence that filled the room as Sunstreaker held onto his next question. Smokescreen could tell that the other was debating on whether or not he should reveal what the question was or ask something completely different. Soon enough, Sunstreaker vented and asked, “Has Bumblebee ever left you?” To say that the question was surprising and confusing would be an understatement. Left him? Why would Bumblebee ever leave him? And in what context was Sunstreaker even referencing to? Before Smokescreen could question him, the yellow mech continued on, “Let's say you were surrounded by Decepticons and Bumblebee was with you. Would he leave you to save himself?”

Immediately, Smokescreen became increasingly confused and shook his helm, “No, absolutely not! Bumblebee isn't that kind of ‘Bot!” He defended. “He would stay and fight! He was nearly offlined _twice_ by Megatron and he's the one who actually offlined Megatron.” Sunstreaker quickly looked at Smokescreen, puzzled at the statement. Almost like he couldn't believe Bumblebee was capable of such a thing.

“But Megatron’s alive?” Sunstreaker asked with a raised optic ridge.

Smokescreen stumbled over his next words, “Well, yeah, but… that's because--look it's a long story. ‘Bee would never leave a teammate behind.”

Sunstreaker scoffed at that, “I'll believe it when I see it.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“None of your business. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to work in peace.” Sunstreaker turned back to his desk and went back to filing reports.

“Wait Sunstreaker, can I ask you a question?” The blue mech asked cautiously as Sunstreaker vented and opened his mouth to answer halfheartedly, but his optics widened and he swiftly turned to stare at Smokescreen in disbelief.

“How do you know my designation?”

Smokescreen smirked, “You're not the only one who read a file.” He said but continued before the other could interject and the smirk disappeared. “Do you hate Bumblebee?”

Frowning, Sunstreaker glared at him, “Bumblebee and I have a… difficult history that I'd rather not explain.”

“Can I ask you something else then?”

Staring at Smokescreen for a while, the yellow mech looked back at the datapad he was reading, “You just did.”

“No, I mean--never mind…” Smokescreen grumbled out and vented heavily. “I'll just leave--”

_”Fixit to Cybertron. Come in, Cybertron.”_

Immediately, Sunstreaker put down the pad and shifted his full attention to the transmission he was receiving. “What does he need?” Two screens popped up with a face he didn't know, but the other one Smokescreen could recognize from a mile away.

Smokescreen immediately walked over, “Ratchet, is that you?”

_”Smokescreen?”_

Sunstreaker shoved the blue mech aside and kept his attention on the screen, “We have important matters to attend to.”

_”Right, Fixit is sending you a list right now.”_ Ratchet said as Fixit paused in his typing and vented.

“Is something wrong?” Smokescreen asked with concern lacing his vocalizer as Sunstreaker shot him a glare that the blue mech promptly ignored.

Fixit tapped something as a loading bar appeared on the bottom right part of Sunstreaker’s screen. _”Fixit…”_ Ratchet said. The Minicon stayed silent as both Smokescreen and Sunstreaker heard the door hiss open and hushed voices approaching them, but both ignored it.

“Spit it out already!” Sunstreaker snapped angrily.

The voices stopped suddenly and uneasy silence filled the room as they all stood there for a couple of kliks. None of them daring to make a sound. Though, the head of Spec Ops decided to intervene, “Sunny, wha's--”

Fixit interjected, _”Sunstreaker, I'm sorry, but if you don't arrive here with that equipment in the next solar cycle, Sideswipe will offline permanently.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, I'll be able to post the next chapter by next week so that you guys won't have to wait too long again. Apologies once again guys!
> 
> And to clarify, Smokescreen just played various instruments and painted his frame multiple times in ridiculous ways at Maccadam's.


	4. The Twin Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strongarm attempts to find Bumblebee and Windblade, complications may or may not arise. Sunstreaker hates the fact that everybot around him seems to speak a different language.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter guys! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Oh and I drew a little something on my [tumblr](https://xcaboosertrvb.tumblr.com/post/162330668279/drew-a-little-something-for-my-fic-on-ao3-and-ffn), but I'll probably redraw later digitally.

Strongarm had been driving for twenty minutes trying to find Bumblebee, but he wouldn't answer her. Eventually, his tire tracks disappeared into the forest and she assumed that he had transformed to cover his tracks. Now, she was walking aimlessly deeper into the forest. “Lieutenant!” She called again, but she received no answer. “Lieutenant, I know that it's hard for you right now, but we need you and Windblade to come back to the scrapyard. The Decepticons could be out here and we still don't know what they did to Sideswipe.” She still received no response. However, a rustle instantly alerted Strongarm and she turned, readying her Decepticon Hunter in case the being she was about to encounter was a Decepticon. Eventually, Windblade solemnly stepped out of the brush as Strongarm frowned and lowered her weapon. “Windblade?”

“How's Slick?” Windblade asked. Though, she didn't sound the least bit worried. Just… tired.

“He's still online,” Strongarm assured with a small smile, but Windblade’s demeanor didn't change. She was still slumped forward and staring at the ground in obvious thought with this haunted look in her optics. She was terrified and Strongarm would be lying if she said she wasn't scared for Sideswipe. “He’ll be okay,” Strongarm continued, but the faraway look didn't slip from Windblade’s face plate.

The red femme vented heavily and leaned on a nearby tree, moving into a sitting position as Strongarm’s optics followed her movements. “Russell is…” She trailed off.

“Mad, I know,” Strongarm replied and closed her optics briefly before opening them again. She went to sit next to Windblade and looked up at the clear blue sky as birds flew by and chirped happily in the silence. Venting, Strongarm turned to Windblade and smiled, “Russell’s young and he thinks he's losing one of his best friends. Rage is probably the only emotion he can grasp onto right now.”

Flicking her optics to glance at Strongarm, Windblade closed her optics and frowned, “Why won't he cry or mourn? Or something! Instead of blaming others.”

The blue femme shrugged as Windblade opened her optics to look at her, “I don't know, I'm still trying to learn more about humanity. It's confusing, to say the least, but they act a lot like us. Fight, flight, or freeze. They all react differently, but their emotions drive them. Russell picked fight, albeit verbally, but he wanted to blame someone. Unfortunately, you were the closest one to him. It's not your fault.” An uneasy silence stretched between them.

“Is he getting better?” Windblade suddenly asked as Strongarm turned to look at her and blinked at the question.

“Ratchet’s going to take a look at him, so he's in good servos.” Strongarm offered, but Windblade didn't seem satisfied.

“If I had just been faster, I could've found him before Steeljaw ever got to him,” Windblade said somberly and her gaze turned downcast once again.

“You never would have known what would happen today. It's not your fault,” Strongarm reassured, but Windblade was already shaking her helm and disagreeing.

Windblade vented roughly, “You just don't understand, Strongarm.” She stood suddenly and started to walk away. To leave. However, Strongarm wasn't about to allow her the chance and maybe anger might've driven her to speak her next words.

“ _I_ don't understand? Windblade, I've messed up countless times before. I've made mistakes that could've cost ‘Bots their lives. Some of those ‘Bots are on our team! Sideswipe will be fine, you don't have to--”

“And what if he's not?!” Windblade snapped angrily, then looked away quickly and attempted to suppress her emotions so she could continue. She couldn't help but roar with anger though, “What if he doesn't recover? What if he never wakes up? Then what? What'll you tell me then? Huh?!” Windblade curled her servos into fists and glared at Strongarm. “Don't tell me everything will be okay when it won't. You don't know what'll happen in the next klik. For all we know, Slick could be dead already!”

“He's not…” Strongarm mumbled. Though, she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince anymore.

“How would you know?” Windblade spat.

Strongarm didn't answer her, only opened her mouth just to shut it almost immediately.

Windblade vented, “That's what I thought.” She started to walk away again but stopped at Strongarm’s next words.

“But I can't allow you to let it happen to you too. What if you're almost offlined by the Decepticons out there and Sideswipe gets back up? He’ll think it's his fault and get revenge.” Strongarm said quietly. “He’ll just get hurt all over again.” Windblade didn't want to admit how much those words crushed her and made her realize that, of course, Slick would do something like that. That mech had no danger sense even if the enemy was right in front of him. She hated how right the blue femme was, but she couldn't let Sideswipe get hurt again.

Windblade turned, “Fine.” She said through grit dental plates.

“Okay,” Strongarm nodded, “Let's find the Lieutenant so you both can come back to the scrapyard in one piece.”

“I saw him a while back, walking like he had a purpose.”

“Where?” Strongarm asked hopefully as Windblade gestured for her to follow and started for the deeper part of the forest. Strongarm watched the other walk off for a moment and blinked when Windblade called out to her before finally moving her legs and following the red femme.

They seemed to walk for cycles and they hadn't seen a single thing the entire time. Trees, trees, and more trees. There wasn't even an animal in sight and it was eerily quiet and empty. Almost like something had scared off the animals in this area so bad that the animals didn't want to come back. It didn't help that Windblade wasn't up for a chat, but to be fair, Strongarm didn't want to talk either. A whole cycle had passed before they finally heard something. The two hid behind bushes and trees and eavesdropped on whoever it was.

“--that it's your decision, but he's more than capable of handling it himself… I don't care if it's too late! Keep him on Cybertron, but you've got to tell Jazz that you have to send--”

A stick cracked under Strongarm’s pedes in her attempt to lean in closer to listen better and both femmes cursed under their vents. Just what they needed, a cliché.

There were a couple of beats of silence. “I'll call you back. Y’know, eavesdropping involves being quiet and stealthy so that the ‘Bot you're eavesdropping on doesn't see or hear you. Something you never really excelled in, Strongarm.”

The blue femme rolled her optics and revealed herself from behind the expanse of shrubbery, frowning at the insult. “Well, I never _did_ finish at the Academy, Lieutenant.”

Bumblebee kept a stone face, “You're not dragging me back to the scrapyard. Not until I dismantle Steeljaw for what he's done.”

Windblade stepped out from behind her cover and glared at the yellow mech, “You act like he's already dead.”

“I'm aware he's not, but the Decepticons aren't getting away with this,” Bumblebee promised.

“Who were you talking to just now?” Strongarm asked and saw the way Bumblebee tensed briefly before recovering and frowning.

“That's none of your business, Cadet.” He said as a matter of factly.

“You've had communication with Cybertron this whole time and didn't even bother to--”

Bumblebee quickly interrupted her, “Whoa! I'm not the one who called. They called me and it's a secure line that only ‘Bots who I trust fully use. Don't accuse me of--”

It was her turn to interrupt. “You don't trust us?” She sounded more hurt than she'd like to admit, but she had to ask because right now, the Autobots needed to trust each other to settle this dispute that unfortunately had resulted from Sideswipe’s incident.

Bumblebee appeared to stare at them for a while with a faceplate that clearly contemplated something that Strongarm and Windblade had no knowledge about. _Reading processors would be helpful in this situation,_ Strongarm thought. “It's more for ‘Bots on Cybertron that I used to work with. We already have a secure line for us here on Earth.” Bumblebee reminded them, but Strongarm narrowed her optics at the Lieutenant. He was clearly hiding something.

Maybe he was talking to Sunstreaker, but the blue femme felt like that was the least possible answer.

“Who's more than capable of handling themselves? What's too late? Who are you keeping on Cybertron? Who were you talking to? And who is Jazz sending to… wherever?” Strongarm asked with a frown. “Why don't you trust us?”

Staring at the two of them, Bumblebee’s expression turned regretful then soft, “It's not that I don't trust you. All of you. I do, but this situation… Sideswipe’s brother…” Windblade frowned at that information. “He's unpredictable and he and I don't have the greatest history. I'm just trying to make sure that all of us stay safe.”

“What are you protecting us from?” Strongarm asked firmly and continued to explain when Bumblebee frowned in confusion. “The Decepticons, Sunstreaker, or your past?”

The Lieutenant looked honestly hurt by that statement and vented heavily, “Strongarm… You don't understand, Sunstreaker’s--”

Strongarm scoffed, “Don't give me fragging excuses and don't tell me that I don't understand! Sideswipe has a brother, so what? They can't be _that_ different and from the sound of it, the only thing that's different is that Sideswipe’s brother hates you.” Bumblebee couldn't help but slouch in shame at that. “Maybe you don't want any of us to know why he hates you, but right now, your search for bloodshed is not going to help anyone.”

“I'm not--”

“But you are!” Strongarm yelled, “You're looking to blame somebot and you're looking for the Decepticons because you know that offlining them will ease you, but will it? We're meant to imprison them, not murder them. Give them second chances and hope that they change.”

“Change?” Bumblebee asked in disbelief and anger welled up inside him. “Decepticons are a bunch of manipulative, backstabbing, selfish robots who care about world domination and saving their own afts. They aren't subject to change because they don't know how to be nice and get along with others. All they know how to do is lie, cheat, and steal so that they can benefit the most! All of them are just sons of a glitches who should all join the AllSpark!”

Windblade and Strongarm stared at him in disbelief and pure shock. This was too sudden of a change of emotions. Officers were meant to control their emotions while on assignment so that it wouldn't cloud their judgments. Emotions could run wild and distort an officer’s thinking to the point where they got themselves and others in danger. It was irrational to put high emotions into play because it could risk so much. Bumblebee was giving his emotions full reign. Strongarm supposed that it was her fault this time. When they found the Lieutenant, he appeared calmer--more level headed--than earlier in the day at the scrapyard. Maybe anger was fueling her too.

“I never should've let Sideswipe stay here on Earth. I should've sent him back.”

“You couldn't have known what would happen today, Bumblebee.”

“IT WAS STILL MY FAULT!” Bumblebee shouted unexpectedly as his vocalizer shorted out halfway through the word fault. The three of them waited for Bumblebee’s voice box to reboot and the time of silence seemed to calm him down a bit because his voice became soft. “I was supposed to keep them safe… and I failed them… again.” Bumblebee said solemnly.

“‘Bee…”

Shaking his helm, Bumblebee frowned, “They trusted me and I just…” Bumblebee raised his servos and looked at them, curling and uncurling them into fists almost like he couldn't believe that these were his servos. “I just…” He trailed off and the other two exchanged worried looks before turning back to the Lieutenant who shook his helm again. “I can't go back.”

“Yes, you can,” Strongarm replied.

“No… no no,” Bumblebee shook his helm and rubbed at his optics. “I can't…” Bumblebee said quietly and vented heavily. “Not when I know that I'll be blamed.”

“It's not your fault--”

“Stop telling me lies!” The yellow mech shouted in irritation. “I'll be blamed, you don't know _anything_ about them. They'll blame me again, so I have to… have to deal with this… myself.” He started to sound distant like he wasn't talking to them anymore. “Have to… leave.” Before neither of them could stop him--though Windblade wasn't doing much to help Strongarm anyway--he transformed and hurriedly drove off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

Strongarm waved the dirt away from her optics and frowned, “He's going to do something stupid.”

“Wouldn't you?” Windblade asked.

The blue femme didn't answer. She merely transformed and drove the opposite direction that Bumblebee went as Windblade sighed and transformed, following the blue femme.

|~•~|

Did he hear that correctly? Was his brother really going to permanently leave him? No, this can't be happening. He should've been faster. He shouldn't have let him walk away that day. He shouldn't have allowed Sideswipe to leave his side. He should've kept him close, no matter how different they were. They were twins for Primus’ sake! They weren't supposed to leave each other’s side. They weren't meant to be apart for so long. It was going to tear them both apart.

He shouldn't have let him go.

“Sunny…” Jazz called softly and walked over to the two second-in-commands, placing a gentle servo on the yellow mech’s shoulder plate and looking at the two mechs’ reactions. Sunstreaker was staring at nothing in particular, but he was obviously devastated by the news that Fixit had provided. The yellow mech had wide optics, his mouth agape in shock, and he was slightly trembling. Jazz didn't need to guess what his second-in-command was thinking; he already knew. His field revealed all Jazz needed to know about how he was feeling.

Regret.

Smokescreen, on the other hand, was confused and looked between everyone else for answers, but he seemed too afraid to voice his question. Jazz wasn't sure how much Smokescreen actually knew about Sunstreaker, but he did know that Sunstreaker would not so easily give up information about himself. Knowing Smokescreen, however, the blue mech probably looked Sunstreaker up in the database beforehand, but Smokescreen wouldn't find much on it anyway. Sunstreaker liked keeping his life private, something that Jazz never understood. The blue mech did appear concerned, however, and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a beep signaling the download completion.

_“Smokescreen,”_ Ratchet said as the blue mech’s helm perked up at his designation and looked relieved at first, then shifted to confusion at the rest of the doctor’s sentence. _“I'm actually glad you're there already.”_

Smokescreen frowned, “Why?”

_“Because they won't have to find you to understand the instructions.”_

“Why would they not understand the instructions themselves?” Smokescreen asked suspiciously and tapped on the screen to open the file, nearly gasping at the first couple lines. “R-Ratchet…”

_”You need to hurry, Smokescreen.”_ Ratchet replied urgently.

“You can't be serious!” Smokescreen exclaimed with a frown. “I haven't even--”

_”You have to. A ‘Bot’s life is on the line.”_ Ratchet reminded them.

Smokescreen shook his helm, “Yeah, but…! This--you can't really--are you--rrRAGH!” Smokescreen yelled in frustration and slammed his fist onto the desk, venting harshly. That seemed to finally shake Sunstreaker out of his stunned silence and it also drew the attention of Prowl and Jazz. Smokescreen huffed, “Just tell me it has nothing to do with _him._ ” The blue mech spat so venomously, it surprised the ‘Bots who knew him well. Smokescreen rarely got angry.

_”As far as I know, it doesn't. He's not here on Earth, Smokescreen.”_ Ratchet assured, but the anger that was radiating off of the blue mech didn't disappear. _”You have to go, now.”_

“Why are you on Earth?” Smokescreen asked quietly.

_”Smokescreen, you're running out of--”_

“I'm not asking you as a friend, Ratchet.” The blue mech said firmly as Ratchet frowned and kept quiet for a couple of nanokliks until he vented heavily.

_”I was assigned to hunt war criminals as a banishment from Cybertron.”_ Ratchet answered reluctantly.

Smokescreen frowned, “The Council never told me--”

_”They would never consult you, Smokescreen. They_ blamed _us for the destruction of Cybertron!”_ Ratchet admitted with a harsh vent.

“Why didn't you tell me? I could've--I don't know--changed their minds!” Smokescreen practically shouted.

A servo was placed on the blue mech’s shoulder plate and he turned to see Prowl. “The Council is the highest tier over us all. We cannot question them, no matter if you're a Prime or not. In fact, they're the ones who decide who should become the next Prime. Unfortunately, they still continue to make the absolute worst decisions and some of us still don't agree with them.” Prowl looked pointedly at Jazz who nodded in agreement. “You wouldn't be able to change their minds.”

“I can always try,” Smokescreen replied and shrugged off the servo from his shoulder plate, starting to walk away.

“What do you understand about this message that I don't?”

Frowning, Smokescreen stopped and slightly turned to see Sunstreaker staring at the screen intensely. “What?”

“What secret message did you put on here that couldn't be written down directly? All I see is a list of equipment and extra instructions that I don't understand.” Sunstreaker swiftly turned around and glared daggers at the blue mech, “Why does my brother’s survival have to be put in code?!”

“Brother?” Smokescreen found himself saying in confusion before he could stop himself. Smokescreen fully turned to face the angered Sunstreaker, “You have a brother?”

“That's not what--” The yellow mech froze and his optics widened in realization at his mistake. Sunstreaker opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to figure out something to say, but he couldn't think of anything.

Thankfully, Jazz interjected before Smokescreen asked any more questions, “Yeah, he's gotta brother.”

Smokescreen continued to stare at Sunstreaker with a frown, “Your file didn't say anything about a brother.”

“Tha’s ‘cause--” Jazz started out, but Sunstreaker shot out a servo in his direction and shook his helm.

“Can we please just… go…?” The second-in-command of Spec Ops said so quietly, Smokescreen had to increase his audio receptors’ sensitivity to even hear the last part of the sentence. “My brother has less than a solar cycle…” Sunstreaker reminded them reluctantly.

Smokescreen nodded and walked over to Sunstreaker’s desk, “Let's go, it'll take a few cycles to get to where we need to go.” The blue mech turned to Sunstreaker, “Do you have a datapad I can borrow?” Wordlessly, Sunstreaker opened one of the drawers to the left of his desk and pulled out a pad, handing it to Smokescreen. “Thank you,” he said with a smile and started transferring the data to the pad. “Ratchet and um… orange Minicon I don't know the name of, keep monitoring uh… Sunstreaker’s brother’s condition and keep us updated. Jazz, you're coming with Sunstreaker and me to follow Ratchet’s instructions. Prowl, I'm going to assume that Jazz has already told you everything. I'll need you to directly contact Bumblebee down on Earth with the secure line and tell him exactly what's happening, even if he already knows. However, tell him that Sunstreaker, Jazz, and I will be making a detour.”

“Detour, where?” Prowl asked.

“Just say that, ‘Bee’ll understand.” Smokescreen said and disconnected the communication between Earth and Cybertron. “Let's go!” Smokescreen hurried out of the room as Sunstreaker followed and they both transformed.

Jazz smiled and looked at Prowl, “Y’know, he's doin’ pretty well. Whatcha teachin’ ‘im?”

Prowl crossed his arms over his chassis, “Nothing, he's just a mere observer.”

Chuckling, Jazz started walking backward for the door and shrugged, “I dunno, looks like he ain't observin’ today.”

“He's exceeding quite well,” Prowl commented as Jazz nodded in agreement and turned around to walk out, but Prowl spoke up again, “Jazz.” The aforementioned turned slightly as Prowl continued, “Take care of them.”

Jazz smiled widely, “‘Course Prowler.” He transformed and quickly left to catch up to the other two.

|~•~|

Smokescreen slowed to a stop and transformed as the other two did the same. The blue mech turned to them, “Let me do the talking please.” He requested as Jazz gestured forward and Sunstreaker rolled his optics. Walking up to the door of the rundown building, Smokescreen cautiously looked around and vented before raising a curled fist to the door and knocking what appeared to be a specific combination. A few beats of silence passed before something slid open and the three ‘Bots looked up at the rectangular peephole that only showed the ‘Bot’s optics, which was unusually red. “It's time for your check up.” Smokescreen said flatly as the ‘Bot rolled his optics and scoffed.

“ _My_ check up? Pardon me, but you're not the Doctor and you're hardly certified to handle such a task.” The ‘Bot answered and scanned the other two. “What do you actually want, Smokey?” The ‘Bot nearly snapped. _So this ‘Bot personally knows Smokescreen_ , Jazz concluded.

Smokescreen vented, “Ratchet sent us and he needs your help. _We_ need your help.”

The ‘Bot looked mildly surprised for a nanoklik, but his expression shifted to indifference once again. “Well?” The ‘Bot sounded like he was waiting for something and Smokescreen hesitated before venting heavily.

“Synth En,” Smokescreen said simply as the ‘Bot’s optics widened and he closed the peephole instantly. Sunstreaker opened his mouth to say something, but Smokescreen quickly shushed him and shook his helm. “Listen.” And they did.

The sounds of clicks and metal sliding against metal told them that many locks were being unlocked before the door practically flew open and dim light streamed through the door. The ‘Bot was walking away from the door and opening and closing drawers left and right as Smokescreen motioned for them to follow him in. Outstretching a servo in their general direction, the ‘Bot curled and uncurled his sharp digits, simply saying, “Datapad.” Smokescreen pulled the datapad out of his subspace and handed it to the other. The ‘Bot hurried over to a desk and transferred the information to his computer with a single swipe on the pad, handing the datapad back to Smokescreen who pocketed it.

Examining the room, Jazz counted the number of locks on the door and was mildly surprised at the amount of equipment littered all over the place. Broken equipment, counters cluttered with piles of machinery, the floor covered in spare parts, and tables and desks having little-to-no space to work on. It was a mess. Messier than his own place. Even the berth had stuff on it! Did this mech even sleep?

The mech quickly read the list and turned to a table, shoving everything off of it and pausing to look at each of the ‘Bots in front of him. The equipment clattered to the ground loudly, but the mech could hardly care. “I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Now, I understand that some of the questions will be extremely personal, but bear with me. You're trying to save somebot and Ratchet’s the best doctor around, so answer truthfully or else the false information will lead to their death. I don't care who answers, just tell me the truth. Do I make myself clear?”

Smokescreen turned to Sunstreaker and nodded, “He's trying to help.”

Sunstreaker frowned and shook his helm, turning to the mech. “How do I know you're not trying to get him killed?”

The mech vented tiredly and his shoulder plates slouched tiredly, “My designation is Knockout. I currently serve as Ratchet’s assistant in the medbay, but have been put on medical leave, as per Ratchet’s request and…” Knockout paused and looked pointedly at Smokescreen, “…everyone else’s request. I used to be the Decepticon’s Chief Medical Officer, but I've since defected to the Autobot’s side. I'm not necessarily trusted, however, because of my Decepticon background which is why I'm hiding in an old building like this outside of the city.”

“I don't see the Autobot insignia on you,” Sunstreaker pointed out as Jazz’s optic ridges raised and quickly scanned the red mech who indeed did not have an Autobot insignia anywhere on him.

Knockout looked down at himself as if he had to check for himself then looked back up. “Ah, that's because it would ruin my finish. I mean, red on red would not look very dashing no matter where you were to place it on me.” Sunstreaker only narrowed his optics at his response as Knockout vented heavily. “I could write you an entire ten-page essay on why the logo would ruin my good looks, but from Ratchet’s message--” Knockout gestured at the screen “--I can clearly tell that he's urgently asking for help and he needs it fast, so if you don't trust me, that's fine. You don't have to trust me, but I will do everything in my power to assist Ratchet. I owe it to him. Any further questions you may ask later, right now, somebot important to you needs help.” The yellow mech seemed to intensely stare at Knockout for a couple of kliks and debated internally until he simply nodded which caused Knockout to smile genuinely. “Alright, we’ll take it slow. Is that okay?”

Sunstreaker nodded, “Okay.”

Knockout started opening and closing drawers again, occasionally tossing a piece of equipment on the cleared table. “We’ll start off with non-personal questions and Smokescreen, I'm not going to ask why Ratchet didn't personally come to me, but I expect it to be answered later.”

“Of course,” Smokescreen promised as Knockout vented in relief.

“Okay, first off, when were they injured?”

“Uh…” Smokescreen frowned and turned to Jazz who shrugged. “We don't know.”

Knockout frowned and quickly turned to the list, mumbling to himself. “Side injury… Dents… Shoulder injury…” Knockout’s optics widened and he froze, reluctantly saying out loud, “Spark injury…”

As if on cue, Sunstreaker’s servo flew up to his chassis and his servo shook, his face contorting in pain and his venting was beginning to labor. “I thought--” The yellow mech shut his mouth and cycled a ventilation as Jazz swiftly went to his side and immediately felt the panic in the other's field.

Knockout quickly turned around, “Thought? Never mind, I'll get through the questions quickly.”

“He's hurt!” Jazz protested.

“Hurt? No, he's merely suffering. His servo shot to his spark, his venting is irregular, his optics are wide, he's in clear pain and panic, but there is no visible injury on him. Almost like he realized something and the pain has increased because of that realization. A bond no doubt.” Knockout said knowingly. “However, I've seen conjunx bonds before. No, this one is different. Twin?” Knockout asked.

Sunstreaker’s helm shot up and his optics widened even more, “How did--”

“I'm a medic.” Knockout explained simply. “Did you feel it when your twin’s spark was damaged?”

The yellow mech shook his helm, “No… I didn't… I--I don't know. I felt something… I didn't know it was him.”

“It's a spark injury, so most likely your twin was injured today. If not treated within a solar cycle, your twin could offline permanently. Mech or femme?” Knockout started cycling through drawers and cupboards again.

“Mech,” Jazz answered quickly.

“Young or old?”

“What's the cutoff?” Smokescreen asked.

“Young…” Sunstreaker breathed out before Knockout could answer.

“Cybertron or Earth?”

“Earth,” Smokescreen answered as Knockout froze and slowly turned to look at Smokescreen who held a determined expression. “You said you wanted answers later.”

With a look of betrayal, Knockout reluctantly nodded and vented in deeply, “Right… Um…” Knockout picked up an odd mechanism and Jazz could clearly see that the red mech was gripping it way tighter than he needed to. Tossing the mechanism on the pile and turning away, Knockout sighed, “Do you know how he was injured?” None of them answered. “Who injured him?”

“We dunno their desig--” Jazz started to say.

“Autobot or Decepticon?”

Jazz immediately raised an optic ridge, “Ya think one o’ our own did this?” More confused than angry.

Knockout vented and shook his helm, turning to face them. “I don't know what to believe and I just may be paranoid, but sometimes you can't trust those around you.” Sunstreaker instantly froze at that statement and all of them noticed this.

“Stop!” Smokescreen intervened before things could get heated or before Sunstreaker said something about Bumblebee again. “We’ll settle this dispute later, but right now we have more important matters to attend to. We save Sunstreaker’s brother first, then you can yell and ask questions all you want at each other. Got it?” Taking in a deep vent, Sunstreaker nodded in agreement as the other two did the same. “And to answer your question, we don't know.”

Knockout sighed and closed his optics, “Sunstreaker, was it?” He didn't really wait for the yellow mech to confirm it. “When was the last time your bond has been connected?”

Jazz frowned and looked at the yellow mech in concern, “Wait, it's been disconnected?”

“And it's still disconnected,” Knockout pointed out. “Twin bonds are a special case. They let you communicate telepathically through the bond, you feel the other's pain, and you can even feel the other’s emotions through it. Twins are made when a spark is split while being introduced to a protoform. In reality, twins are halves of the same ‘Bot with half sparks and a strong bond that completes them. Bonds are a two-way connection; if one does not consent to or rejects the bond, then the bond is essentially disconnected and you'll feel empty. Your strength will start draining and the feeling of abandonment and loneliness will overtake you. You'll feel incomplete and the pain will only increase as the days continue on. Maybe even insanity will overwhelm you. How long has it been?”

Sunstreaker frowned and looked down in shame, curling his servos into fists. “I shouldn't have let him leave that day…” He murmured quietly and slid down onto his knees, shaking his head and scratching the floor with how hard he was trying to dig his digits into the ground. Jazz crouched next to him and frowned, visor sliding up and scanning Sunstreaker quickly without his enhanced HUD giving him alerts every five nanokliks.

Sighing, Knockout slowly walked over to the two but made sure he was a reasonable distance away before crouching and speaking softly, “I don't know what happened between you and your twin and I'm not a professional in the psychological branch of things, but I need a straight answer. I can tell that you've been hurt badly by some decisions that were made either by you or your twin. One of you left the other by choice and one of you canceled the bond for a reason unknown to me. I don't want the reason, I don't want the story, but that's only because I can easily tell that you're uncomfortable with it. I just need to know when the bond was disconnected.” Sunstreaker slowly looked up at the medic and frowned, whispering it to Knockout who nodded in understanding as Jazz’s optics widened in shock.

“Three years ago…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys will probably notice this, but Knockout might be slightly out of character because of certain things that'll be explained later in the story. I am trying my best to keep him the lovely Doc we love though!


End file.
